


The Road to Night Vale

by HopeStoryteller



Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: Gen, Road Trips
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-07
Updated: 2019-11-07
Packaged: 2021-01-24 20:44:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21344449
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HopeStoryteller/pseuds/HopeStoryteller
Summary: What do you get when you put a couple of non-medical doctors, several sleep-deprived grad students, and a slightly intimidating amount of scientific equipment that’s really not supposed to be portable in a cramped SUV on its way to a town that probably shouldn’t exist?This, apparently. Welcome to Night Vale, Carlos. Welcome to Night Vale.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 29





	The Road to Night Vale

What do you get when you put a couple of non-medical doctors, several sleep-deprived grad students, and a slightly intimidating amount of scientific equipment that’s really not supposed to be portable in a cramped SUV on its way to a town that probably shouldn’t exist?

This exact situation. Which is to say: Rachelle’s playing a game on her phone. Dave is passed out on Mark, who is either also asleep or doing a very good job of pretending to be, or possibly just has earbuds in. Nilanjana and Lusia are in the midst of a very heated game of War in the back. Dr. Breck is staring out the passenger window into the desert.

And Carlos? Carlos is driving, and wondering what possessed him to agree to this. Any of this, really. It would have made a lot more sense to send someone more experienced, or more specialized, or just another grad student.

He’s in a strange grey area between the grad students and Dr. Breck, and while he’s used to being in a strange grey area when it comes to research, this is probably the exception.

“So,” Dr. Breck says, turning down the radio as ‘Call Me Maybe’ fades out for the fourth time in the past hour, this time giving way to static. It’s the first word any of them have spoken in about two hours, minus the angry whispering between Nilanjana and Lusia in the back, and it takes Carlos a few moments to remember he’s addressing Carlos.

It’s still very, very strange to look at someone who used to be a teacher when  _ you _ were a grad student and realize you’re both doctors. Carlos sincerely doubts that’ll ever get old.

“So?” Carlos says intelligently, keeping his eyes on the road.

“What do you know about Night Vale?”

He phrases it like it’s a test of some sort. That, or Carlos is reading into it too much, but in his experience you can never read into things  _ too _ much where UWIT is involved. Like the name, for instance—he’s  _ still _ not sure where the name came from and at this point he’s too afraid to ask.

“It’s… strange,” Carlos says, although that doesn’t begin to cover any of the things he’s heard. “Very strange.”

He risks a glance away from the road. Dr. Breck raises an eyebrow.

“That’s it?”

“No. There are a significant amount of unexplained phenomena in this area, the locals are reportedly completely xenophobic and almost completely insane, and most people who know of this town believe there is some kind of magic involved.”

“Magic,” Dr. Breck says sagely, “is just science we don’t yet understand.”

He clears his throat, and adds, “Arthur C. Clarke.”

“Ah,” Carlos agrees.

Dr. Breck strokes his goatee contemplatively, and returns to staring out the window into the desert and sagebrush. And sand. Lots of sand.

“That’s what we’re here for. To understand. To explain the unexplained.” He sighs, and shakes his head. “I’m rubbish at being motivational.”

“You did alright.”

“By our standards, maybe. But most scientists aren’t the best at social interaction. Most good scientists, anyway.” He snorts. “Which is why we’re going out to study a place that is, by all accounts, comparable to waltzing into a nuclear test site in terms of danger.”

Carlos frowns, focuses on the road a little more intensely. “I thought we all agreed to this voluntarily?”

“True. Though I didn’t do it so much ‘voluntarily’ as ‘because if you want something done right, do it yourself.’”

“...fair enough,” Carlos says after a pause that’s slightly too long.

“Point is, Night Vale is going to be dangerous, and while I don’t  _ like _ any of you, I can respect competence, and anyone who can teach  _ your _ class for any significant amount of time and stay sane has to be competent. So.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Carlos sees Dr. Breck grin.

“Call me Breck, everyone does,” he says. “We’re both doctors here. The fun kind. We won’t talk about the kind my second ex-wife is.”

“Carlos.”

**Author's Note:**

> Dr. Breck is literally just my dad shoe-horned into this because he would fit into Night Vale _scarily_ well. That, and I wanted to give him an introduction. I still need to do a lot more research before I write too much more on Night Vale, but I did have this sitting in my drive already completed so uh. Here? Hello? Stay tuned for that Gravity Falls crossover I'm planning?
> 
> Just a bit of an introduction, honestly. Breck is the only character out of the team of scientists I didn't steal a name from canon, and I'm working on personalities beyond road trip activities, although it's a little hard without the books to reference ahaha. Work in progress? Work in progress.
> 
> Also: hello, Night Vale fandom! You might be seeing a bit more of me in the future, if not for a little while longer. I just, y'know, had this done, felt like posting it. Hope ya like it?


End file.
